lobular breast cancer and alcohol

Hmmm, interesting! I drank waaayyyy too much alcohol when I was in my 20's and early 30's. I haven't had a drop in 10 years, and don't plan to. The article makes me wonder if my past is coming back to haunt me.....

where can I read the article?

Thanks

I saw this article too. I have a glass of red wine everynight with dinner BUT my mom was an alcoholic.  Any connection ya think?

Jan508

Kaiser published this study December 09 which bummed me out.  I mean, I like to enjoy a glass of wine every so often - a few times a week.  But this study claims it increases my chance of recurrence by 30%!  Geez!  Not good.  http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/pressreleases/nat/2009/121009breastcancer.html

I'm with you Wallycat.  I think we need to enjoy life too.  I am a weekend drinker of maybe 2-6 drinks and I'm not giving it up.  My OncotypeDX said my chances of getting it back in the 10 years following dx was only 6% and my doctor didn't say alcohol would effect that percentage.  I know it's a crapshoot but I really enjoys drinking socially with my family and friends.

I don't drink and I have ILC with a nice fat 11cm tumor so who knows?

"...if you eat vegetables and get up at 5.00 A.M. to go jogging becouse you feel better when you do, that is terrific. If you are just trying not do die, however, you are going to be damned angry when you discover you are going to die anyway. That is when you wish you had slept late and eaten an ice cream cone. The point is to find a life that is enjoyable to you and live that life. It may be longer or it may be shorter than someone else s life, but if it is not a life you enjoy, you can be sure it will seem longer. Better to feel that our lives are over much too quickly. The important thing, as joseph Campbell says is to follow your bliss.....lately there have been articles about women who drink having more breast cancer. But you have to look at the life style of these women - their emotional life, nutrition and childbearing history - not just their drinking habits. You also have to look at drinking in a cultural context. In many cultures  where people live to be a hundred, there is significant alcohol consumption. Alcohol is part of their society, part of their enjoyment of life, but it is not abused or misused....

From my favorite  author Dr. Bernie Siegel/Peace, Love and Healing

I read that same article and have not changed my mind on drinking. It's one thing I enjoy. I do not smoke or do drugs. Going through chemo and bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction certainly has not been pleasant so I am going to enjoy my few cocktails a week and keep enjoying life.

Hi!

Its been a while since I last posted ~ thought there had to be a thread on the article when I read it. As you can see I was dx with ILC 21Dec 2004 and will be 5 years out of treatment this November. I hadnt drank for years and years and when I did it was never much- the odd party situation in my teens and twenties! There certainly is a link with many serious illnesses with heavy drinking but I do have the odd glass of wine now and with my surgeons blessing. All in moderation I say, we have to live our lives! Im with you girls! so CHEERS too! x

PS Im a vegetarian too and breast fed........ 

There is really a big impact if you take some alcohol.

I doubt whether alcohol is the cause of BC.  Of course all the unhealthy lifestyle would not be good to your immune system,  but it doesn't sound very convinced that alcohol is the trigger.  Another study also shows that alcohol could help to digest and absorb Tamoxifen.

Anyway, trying to get a more healty lifestyle always helps. 

I have questions about this issue as well.(mostly because I want to defend my wine habit)

What I wonder is, since it seems to be an estrogen/alcohol connection that is the problem, if we are taking an AI which depletes our estrogen, does alcohol pose the same threat? I happen to know for a fact that my serum estradiol is low (7) because I am using an estring and my onc wanted to make sure it did not effect my systemic estrogen levels so I am having my blood tested every 6 - 8 weeks for a while. 

My other thought is has there every been a study done to show an increase of BC, of any kind,  in women who are/were known alcoholics. Don't you think that wouldn't be too hard to assess?

Just wondering, Cyndi

P.S. I am not giving up my wine. I have given up too much already. So there.

Hey Cal-gal! (I am a former cal-gal) I noticed this too (the er/pr pos of the others. I am er/pr negative, her2 pos, have ILC, and have never been much of a drinker. (Maybe 10 drinks a year).

I do have "dense breasts" and am not so happy that i was never given the information that some cancers do not show up on mammos  - so why have they been zapping us all these years? Had i known US would have detected it, I would have paid (in case insurance did not), but at least I would have had the option. My 5cm tumor did not show up on mammo the DAY OF dx, but US did show it. 

Hi,

Well....I think the study was right.  I had ILC in 2006 and treated it with lump, rads and Tamoxifen for four years.  Oncotype said I only had a 6% chance of getting it back.  Here I am with a local recurrence in the same breast and the only thing I can think is the weekend drinks did it.  I would have 3 -4 drinks on a weekend and it must have brought it back.  I'm done with alcohol now and I will certainly miss it.  How sad that BC takes all our fun away from us.